Patients tell of stigma linked to lung cancer

Lung cancer victims suffer high levels of "stigma, shame and blame" because their illness is automatically linked with smoking, researchers said today.

A study of lung cancer patients revealed many suffered socially and financially because of how they had been made to feel about their illness.

Writing in bmj.com, researchers said campaigns to help people quit and stop young people smoking should consider the effect they had on smokers who feel stigmatised.

Whether they smoked or not, lung cancer patients felt stigmatised because the disease was associated with smoking and people believed it was self-inflicted.

The researchers, from the University of Oxford, questioned 45 patients about their experiences living with the disease.

"Many said that during their illness people crossed the road to avoid contact," the researchers said. "They gave several explanations for this, such as others' desire to avoid those who have a disease associated with a horrible death, being embarrassed and not knowing what to say."